Track: Walt Disney World Speedway
Date: Saturday, January 20, 1996
Start time: 12:30 PM EST
Weather: Pleasant and sunny
IRL historical: #1 of 3 in 1996 season, IRL race #1 overall
Track historical: IRL race #1, Indy car race #1 at this track
Track configuration: 1-mile triangular, flat track
Wing package: N/A (old cars)
Buzz Calkins went down in history as the winner of the firs race ever sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, as well as the first professional race run on the Walt Disney World track in Florida. The field contained some names familiar from CART racing -- Arie Luyendyk, Buddy Lazier, Mike Groff -- as well as SCCA Trans-Am champ Scott Sharp, former Formula 1 driver Eddie Cheever, and a host of hot rookies from the Atlantics and various other formula car series. A curiousity was Tony Stewart, who had won the championships of all three of USAC's short-track divisions (Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown) the previous year; he was the first young driver from the Sprint car ranks to advance to Indycar racing in years, and everyone was keen to see him race.
The front rows belonged to the Indycar veterans, with Lazier grabbing the pole, Menard driver Scott Brayton outside of him (this race marked the first-ever Indy car event other than the Indy 500 for John Menard's team), and Luyendyk and Sharp taking the second row. Rookie Buzz Calkins surprised everyone by qualifying fifth. On the start, Brayton had problems right away and Lazier got away in the lead followed by Luyendyk; Stewart showed what kind of Indycar driver he would be by starting a march that would see him in third by lap 20. Another rookie, Ritchie Hearn, was also on a charge and advanced from 19th to seventh before losing it in turn 2 and crashing on lap 18. Brayton pitted early with handling problems, which continued to get worse; he would retire after a black flag on lap 127 for being too slow. Lazier led until Stewart overtook him on lap 29, after which he proceeded to drive away. Shortly after, Lazier had to pit with a front suspension problem (loose upright) which essentially ended his day, although he would continue until eventually retiring due to a brake problem. Meanwhile, Calkins moved up and took second from Luyendyk on lap 51; he then reeled in Stewart and took the lead for the first time on lap 66. Luyendyk stalled his engine during a pit stop on lap 72, due to gearbox problems that would eventually put him out. After a round of pit stops, Calkins resumed the lead on lap 77 and would not be surpassed thereafter. Rookie Stan Wattles, who ran well and led briefly during pit stops, spun exiting the pits and crashed on lap 147. Later were other caution flags for a crash by Hamilton and a late one involving Cheever and Sharp; during the latter Stewart had to make an evasive maneuver and ran over debris, cracking a front wing. After the green on lap 194, Stewart was unable to catch Calkins, and the red car won the race by slightly less than a second. In an after-race interview, Calkins and a reporter engaged in a spontaneous takeoff on a popular Disney World advertising tactic of the time, which seemed to sum up the hopes and aspirations for the IRL: the reporter asked Calkins, "Buzz Calkins -- you just won the Indy 200 at Disney World. What are you going to do next?" Calkins: "I'm going to Indianapolis!"
Fin St Qual Car C/E/T Driver Entrant Laps Status Laps Pts
Spd # Led
1 5 175.464 12 R/F/F Buzz Calkins Bradley 200 Running 130 35
2 7 174.554 20 L/M/G Tony Stewart Menard 200 Running 37 33
3 13 170.560 54 R/F/F Robbie Buhl Beck 198 Running 1 32
4 14 170.446 33 L/F/G Michele Alboreto Scandia 198 Running 31
5 2 178.130 21 R/F/G Roberto Guerrero Pagan 197 Running 30
6 12 170.657 11 R/F/G Mike Groff Foyt 195 Running 29
7 15 167.738 75 R/F/F Johnny OÕConnell Cunningham 195 Running 28
8 11 171.111 90 L/F/G Lyn St. James Scandia 192 Running 27
9 16 160.242 18 L/M/G John Paul Jr. PDM 190 Running 26
10 20 No Spd. 3 L/M/F Eddie Cheever Menard 184 Crash T1 25
11 4 176.211 41 L/F/G Scott Sharp Foyt 184 Crash T1 24
12 6 175.293 14 L/F/G Davey Hamilton Foyt 173 Crash T2 2 23
13 8 173.477 17 L/F/F Stan Wattles Miller-Ead 144 Crash T2 2 22
14 3 177.296 5 R/F/G Arie Luyendyk Byrd 132 Gearbox 21
15 10 173.185 2 L/M/G Scott Brayton Menard 105 Handling 20
16 9 173.244 9 R/F/F Stephan Gregoire Hemelgarn 69 Gearbox 19
17 1 181.388 91 R/F/F Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn 61 Brakes 28 18
18 17 153.512 16 L/M/F Johnny Parsons Jr. Blueprint 45 Overheating 17
19 19 No Spd. 4 R/F/G Ritchie Hearn DellaPenna 17 Crash T2 16
20 18 146.353 25 L/B/G David Kudrave Tempero 4 Gearbox 15
Laps under green: 179 of 200 laps (89.5%)
Caution flags: 4 for 21 laps (10.5%)
#1: lap 18, crash (Hearn), T2, 6 laps
#2: lap 147, crash (Wattles), T2, 4 laps
#3: lap 178, crash (Hamilton), T2, 6 laps
#4: lap 189, crash (Cheever, Sharp), T1, 5 laps
Red flags: 0 for 0 minutes
Lead changes: 6, number of different leader: 6
St: Lazier 1-28
#1: Stewart 29-65
#2: Calkins 66-70
#3: Wattles 71-72
#4: Buhl 73
#5: Hamilton 74-75
#6: Calkins 76-200
C/E/T finish averages (# started / avg finish):
Lola: 11 / 11.1
Reynard: 9 / 9.8
Buick: 1 / 20.0
Ford Cosworth: 14 / 9.7
Menard: 5 / 10.8
Firestone: 8 / 10.6
Goodyear: 12 / 10.4